• Weis Watch. Another sign of Charlie Weis' impending demise: Notre Dame has blocked the university plane from appearing on flightaware.com (see for yourself), a proactive effort at cutting off the breathless surfers intent on tracking its path to Cincinnati or Gainesville or Vatican City or wherever ND's next coach is waiting. That comes on the heels of the athletic director assuring reporters that Weis' huge buyout won't affect whether he stays or goes and the two most notable Irish-centric newspapers both calling for his head almost simultaneously, completing the Holy Trinity of "You're Fired." [South Bend Tribune]

• Oh, to be a Knoxville lawyer. News leaked Tuesday that Tennessee freshman defensive back Nyshier Oliver was cited for shoplifting for allegedly walking out of a Dillard's with a $110 polo shirt just hours before the Vols' win over Memphis on Nov. 7, a relatively piddling misdemeanor that would usually pass without much notice if not for a) Last week's blockbuster armed robbery arrest involving three other UT freshmen, raising the legal antennae around Knoxville, and b) Coach Lane Kiffin's repeated statements just hours before the armed robbery news broke that his team had been entirely arrest-free over his 11-month tenure -- despite being fully aware of Oliver's shoplifting charge.

Kiffin may skate by charges that he blatantly lied on a technicality -- Oliver was cited, not arrested; his arrest warrant was issued Tuesday, and he won't be booked until Nov. 23 -- but he's certainly lost the "clean program" pitch for the next year or two. [Knoxville News-Sentinel]

• The good Cap'n a Cardinal? Hornswaggle! Weirdest coaching rumor so far in the early rounds of silly season: Mike Leach to Louisville? The Louisville Courier-Journal cites a radio interview with ex-Georgia and Marshall coach Jim Donnan, who thinks Cap'n Leach would be interested and would be "a good fit" if/when UL dumps current coach Steve Kragthorpe. That's better sourcing than CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd offers in his Leach-Louisville speculation, which seems based entirely on the pirate coach's no-buyout contract in Lubbock and the Louisville opening existing ... you know, probably, at some point in the near future. It's too strange to make up, frankly, although Leach has never lamented any extra attention. [Louisville Courier-Journal]

• Z-Rob still shaking out the cobwebs. It can't say for sure, but the Tulsa World believes that backup quarterback Alex Cate has been taking most of the snaps in Oklahoma State's preparation for Colorado Thursday night, though starter Zac Robinson is still expected to suit up and possibly be available for senior night in Stillwater despite being knocked silly by Texas Tech's Jamar Wall last Saturday. Think of it as an investment, Cowboy fans: It may be Robinson's last home game, but his presence is not mandatory for beating the sad-sack Buffaloes, and it can never hurt to get the quarterback of the future some live reps. [Tulsa World]

• No one snubs Urban's cubs. Urban Meyer will be "upset" if the Tebow Child isn't invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony for the third consecutive season: "Absolutely, yeah I’ll be upset. ... He's the quarterback of the No. 1 team in college football. I think the Heisman goes to the best player, and it’d be hard to argue that he’s not." Actually, it's fairly easy to argue: Florida is relying far more on its dominant defense to make up for a good-not-great offense averaging 50 fewer yards and 16 fewer points in SEC games than it did in 2008, and Tebow is well behind Ryan Mallett as the league's best statistical passer. But don't let semantics get in the way: Tebow will be in New York, because his exclusion from the proceedings will only hasten the horrors of the tribulation. The Downtown Athletic Club makes its decisions based on the relatively peaceful continuity of human civilization, not stats. [Palm Beach Post]

Quickly ... James Vandenberg is one poised quarterback. ... The victim in an alleged assault case against Auburn's Eric Smith is suing Smith and two unnamed Tiger players. ... Washington State linebacker Jason Stripling was arrested for assault and obstructing a public servant, both misdemeanors. ... Old hat Jerry Glanville resigns at Portland State. ... And yes, that is a 13-year-old middle-schooler being touted as "probably the most celebrated high school recruit in history" before enrolling in high school.

Tennessee's Lane Kiffin acknowledged that he decided against running another play before his team set up for a field goal that would have beaten Alabama because he was fearful officials would have found another way to penalize his team.

Tennessee was one of the nation's least-penalized teams entering Saturday's game, but was flagged eight times for 68 yards. Alabama, which had been flagged 10 times for 113 yards the previous Saturday against South Carolina, was penalized only once for 10 yards.

"You run another play and you throw an interception or they throw another flag on us — I wasn't going to let the refs lose the game for us there and some magical flag appear," Kiffin said.

Instead, Kiffin sent in Daniel Lincoln to attempt a 44-yard field goal on the final play. It was blocked by Terrence Cody.

The beefy Alabama noseguard then took off his helmet and ran up the field to celebrate while the ball was still in play. Check the video.

"If a play's still going, you can't take your helmet off," Kiffin said. "A guy throws his helmet as the ball's still live. He throws his helmet and then two of their guys go and recover the ball. It's a 15-yard penalty, and you kick again."

Kiffin knew what was coming next.

"I'm sure we'll get one of those letters that mean nothing, that [Arkansas coach] Bobby [Petrino] got last week, but Florida and Alabama live on,'' Kiffin said.

Kiffin's letter arrived Monday. Mississippi State's Dan Mullen was also reprimanded.

If Kiffin is reprimanded one more time this year, he will be suspended by the SEC. Fortunately, he has assistant Ed Orgeron to carry on the fight.

Orgeron, the Mississippi coach from 2005-07, let the officials have it Monday night during an appearance before the Knoxville Quarterback Club.

"Seems like some people get the calls and some people don't," Orgeron said. "I've been in this league and I've been a part of that. Whether that's true or not, you can never prove that.

"I do know this: there were some very questionable calls in that game that could have went either way and they went Alabama's side. There were very questionable calls throughout the season and it seems they go for the better team. Whether that's true or not, we can never prove that but that's what it seems like."

Watch the last 1:02 of the Tennessee-Alabama game below. CBS analyst Gary Danielson remarks that Cody could have been penalized. "I don't want to get into these conspiracies anymore," Danielson said. "I'll let somebody else handle that."

We just did.

Q is for Quorum. The minimum number of people needed to seat a body of oversight, or what is lacked across the board in the SEC right now in terms of quality teams. Talent abounds, but turnover has taken a hard bite out of the coaching ranks and talent pool, leaving the SEC in a state of flux. Even Alabama and Florida, the titans of the league right now, clearly have serious issues resulting from the loss of offensive players to the draft and graduation. I am as blatant an SEC homer as exists, but this year there are other conferences putting together a more complete menu in terms of teams with depth and cohesion. That conference, for the moment, is the Pac-10. Now I'm going to hide in a bombproof bunker and wait for a while until I hear the bombshells stop landing.

The gravity of those words cannot be understated, especially when you consider that he may get banished from the South permanently for committing such words to paper/screen. People who actually watch football know what's up -- after a rough 2008, the Pac-10 is where it's at in 2009.

Except, of course, for lowly Wazzu and UCLA. Those guys are still terrible.

The Alphabetical, Week 8: Admitting That The Pac-10 Is Better Is The First Step [SB Nation]

It's truly one of the most remarkable inventions of the past 20 years. It costs nothing to operate, runs 24-7 without a hitch and never requires maintenance.

It’s the one, the only Southeastern Conference hype machine.

Many a college football fan — and bettor — has been swallowed in the annual hype surrounding the league. But this year is different. With a fat, new TV contract and powerful network behind it, the machine has been cranking it out like never before.

The reality is that the SEC in 2009 consists of Alabama, Florida and a bunch of nobodies. In nonconference games against Division I-A opponents, SEC teams are a pedestrian 14-11 against the spread. In nonconference play against teams from Bowl Championship Series conferences, the record is 4-7. That’s a .363 percentage, the worst of the six BCS conferences.

Covers is second to none in coverage of industry news, statistics and advice. Be sure to check Covers' excellent matchups page for this week's games, featuring previews, trends and line moves.

You see, when the Pac-10 loses one of these type of games, it is always pigeon-holed as being ’soft’.  Conversely, when the SEC wins, it is because it is tough and, of course, fast.  The Big Ten is (naturally) slow, but it also gets to be labeled ‘physical’ when it wins an interconference game.  Also, when the Pac-10 loses an interconference game, it is because the conference has issues.  When the SEC loses one of these games, well, there’s really nothing to say.

Here are all the links to those stories about how UCLA beat Tennessee because it was tougher and faster and how USC beat Ohio State because it was more physical and how the both wins were a sign of the Pac-10’s strength as a conference:

 Hope you enjoyed them.

1. Barkley on a big stage: USC's freshman quarterback passed his first test against San Jose State, but things will be much tougher for Matt Barkley at Ohio State. It's hard to imagine he won't struggle, but if he shines and leads the Trojans into the national title chase, buckle up for the hype that will commence.
2. Prince of Rocky Top: Speaking of young quarterbacks, UCLA's redshirt freshman Kevin Prince is not as young as Barkley but his supporting casts is much younger, and Neyland Stadium at Tennessee is just as tough as the Horseshoe, even if the Volunteers are a step or two behind the Buckeyes. How will Prince and the Bruins O-line perform on the road, where UCLA traditionally struggles?
3. Take three on young QBs: Not to establish a theme or anything, but redshirt freshman Andrew Luck leads Stanford across the country for an early PDT kickoff at Wake Forest with a chance for the Cardinal to announce to the college football world that they are again a contender not to be trifled with.
4. Ducks Blounted: Oregon needs to beat Purdue to salvage its season. That sounds extreme, but the Ducks are back at home and they are a vastly superior team. If they don't prevail, it won't be because the better team won. It will be because the Ducks suffered a Boise State hangover that could well last the entire season. If Oregon wins, they likely will be able to look at the schedule ahead and know they have a lot to play for. Shoot, a victory over Utah on Sept. 19 should get them back into the top-25.
5. Secondary test for Beavers: The first order of business is can Oregon State's rebuilt secondary thwart a strong UNLV receiving corps -- Ryan Wolfe and Phillip Payne are a Pac-10-worthy combination. The second is can the Beavers win an early-season nonconference game on the road? Their recent track record -- LSU, Boise State, Louisville, Cincinnati, Penn State, Utah -- isn't good. If Oregon State does prevail, it will be 2-0 and a long way toward not repeating a 2-3 start for the fourth consecutive year.
6. Huskies winning streak: It might not last long -- USC comes to town on Sept. 19 -- but Washington should be on a one-game winning streak by Saturday afternoon with Idaho coming to town. That winning streak, obviously, will end a 15-game losing streak. It will be interesting to see if the Huskies pounce with a relentless hunger to win or if they are flat after the emotional effort vs. LSU.
7. Cougars offense steps up: Hawaii needed a fourth-quarter comeback to beat Central-Arkansas, an FCS program. The Warriors only have two starters back on defense. They are projected to finish in the bottom half of the WAC. This is a prime time for the Cougars to get a win. It would be a particularly good time for the offense, which showed some life against Stanford, to put up some numbers -- and points, which might mean either Kevin Lopina or Marshall Lobbestael would establish himself as the starter.
8. Best 200 before the half?: Cal didn't need Jahvid Best in the second half of its blowout win over Maryland. But if his Heisman Trophy candidacy is going to pick up steam, he might want to post some fancy numbers against FCS team Eastern Washington. Or maybe coach Jeff Tedford wants to rest him before the Bears head to Minnesota.
9. Passing Wildcats: Arizona is going to beat Northern Arizona, but the Wildcats night won't be a success unless they walk into the post-game locker room feeling good about their quarterback situation before heading to Iowa. That means a quality, confidence-building outing for Matt Scott and some good reps for backup Nick Foles.
10. Nonconference tests: When the smoke clears Saturday, how will the Pac-10 stand up to against a tough nonconference schedule? There are six games here that are "losable." If USC goes down, the conference won't have much say in the national championship race, unless Cal surges. If UCLA gets whipped at Tennessee, the SEC folks will howl with delight. If Stanford goes down at Wake Forest, it will be played as "the Pac-10 lacks depth." If Oregon loses to Purdue, the Chip Kelly doubters will be out in force. If the Huskies lose to Idaho, all the goodwill from the LSU game will go splat. If Oregon Sate loses at UNLV, the Mountain West will start crowing again. If the Cougars lose to Hawaii, the specter of a winless season will appear. There's lots at stake this weekend.

Filed under: NC State, South Carolina, ACC, SEC

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1. Kelly green or blue: Chip Kelly makes his debut as Oregon's head coach at Boise State in a matchup of ranked teams on ESPN. If the Ducks look well-prepared and poised and -- most important -- win, the majority of questions about whether Kelly was ready to take over for Mike Bellotti will go away. If they are sloppy and lose, well, Kelly will experience his first heat since making a huge splash as the offensive coordinator in 2007.
2. Can Sarkisian's Huskies compete? Some folks have been, curiously, touting Washington's capability to upset visiting LSU. Hmm. While there's a strong sense that the Huskies, particularly with the return of a healthy Jake Locker at quarterback, are significantly better than their 0-12 record from 2008 would indicate, being significantly better than winless means only a couple of wins, not an upset of an SEC superpower. The big picture matters here, even more than how Locker looks as a pro-style quarterback: Will the Huskies fight and claw for four quarters and keep this one respectable?
3. Best for first: Perhaps California running back Jahvid Best's worst memory from 2008 was his performance at Maryland. Not only did he have only 25 yards on 10 carries, he also got smashed on a pass play and threw up while the TV cameras were on him. Well, the Terrapins are coming to Memorial Stadium with a rebuilding defense, and Best is supposed to be the West Coast's leading Heisman Trophy candidate. Good time for him to break out a few highlight-reel runs so his post-game film and YouTube clips are better this time.
4. Can Wulff's Cougars compete? Much like its hated cross-state rivals, Washington State is trying to return to the realm of respectability after a dismal 2-11 finish last season, which included a 58-0 pasting at Stanford. While the Cougars will tell you they are going for the upset, the real mission here is to keep the score respectable and fight for four quarters. If the Cardinal again run over the Cougars -- this time in front of a Martin Stadium crowd -- the heat might turn up on Wulff, whether that is fair or not.
5. Says Barkley, "Hello world!" While the game might not be terribly thrilling, USC's matchup with San Jose State will be the debut of super-frosh quarterback Matt Barkley, who takes over the premier position in college football as an 18-year-old. If Barkley is lights-out, then Heisman talk will begin and the hype before the Trojans visit Ohio State will be epic. If Barkley struggles, then the hand-wringing and second-guessing will begin and the hype before the Trojans visit Ohio State will be epic.
6. Who the heck is Arizona's quarterback? Perhaps Arizona coach Mike Stoops will send out a quarterback against Central Michigan with a mask on and a "?" for his number. While most signs point to Matt Scott getting the start and Nick Foles seeing some action, Stoops has refused to reveal who will take the first snap. His most definitive statement is both will play. Maybe. The Chippewas are not a team to take lightly, so the hope is whoever is at quarterback will capably lead the offense. The guess here is Stoops and offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes would like to have a true starter before the trip to Iowa on Sept. 19.
7. Prince or pauper on offense? UCLA's redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince makes his debut against San Diego State -- L.A. fires permitting -- and Bruins fans are hoping last year's horrible offensive showing will be rendered a distant memory as Prince and a youthful offensive line dominate the action. The reality figures to fall short of that as Prince likely will only be as good as his line, which may struggle with three first-time starters going against a peculiar 3-3-5 scheme. If the Bruins can't block the Aztecs, then it won't have much hope against Pac-10 defenses.
8. Secondary test: Portland State won't beat Oregon State, but its high-flying passing attack might test the Beavers' rebuilt secondary. At least a little. In any event, an FCS foe means the Beavers will start 1-0, which is 100 percent better than 2008.
9. Suspended sentence: Arizona State will be missing six or seven suspended players -- coach Dennis Erickson wouldn't be specific -- against Idaho State. And there are injury issues. A good way to get fans' minds off the recent bad news is for the Sun Devils rebuilding offense to push Idaho State around and for new quarterback Danny Sullivan to put up big numbers before yielding to true freshman backup Brock Osweiler in the third quarter.
10. Quarterbacks and offensive lines: Every Pac-10 team has preseason questions either at quarterback or on the offensive line. A few have questions with both. While one weekend won't provide complete answers, it should reveal which teams are going to be OK fairly soon and which teams need work. And who might be in big trouble. If the Pac-10 is going to thrive when the meat of the nonconference schedule hits during the next couple of weeks, it's going to need quarterbacks and O-lines to grow up quickly.

Seriously, though, USC is the team of the decade. The Trojans are 93-22 to Florida's 87-31 through the first nine years of the 21st century, a sizable difference. You can point out the weakness of the Pac-10 all you want, but it is much harder to explain away the slew of top-rated recruiting classes and constant supply of high NFL draft picks USC has produced to back up its record...

The Trojans have finished fourth or higher in the final Associated Press poll for seven consecutive seasons. The Gators have finished among the top 10 only four times in the decade...The Trojans have won six of their last seven bowl games and are 6-2 overall for the decade. The Gators have won three of four bowl games under Meyer but were 1-4 from 2000 to 2004. The Trojans won 34 in a row from 2003 to 2005, a streak that ended with a BCS title loss to Texas in one of the most exciting games ever played. The Gators' longest winning streak is 11...

Now to throw some respect back, Florida has not been doing too bad itself with its 2006 & 2008 National Championships and holier-than-heisman Tim Tebow. But until USC and Florida meet on the field, I guess the debate will rage on.

Erin, noooo!

Super hot sportscaster Erin Andrews shouldn't participate in any activities where balls fly at her face -- "Clueless" anyone? -- because a line drive hit her perfect mug last night during the Mets/Dodgers game.

Andrews -- who serves as a sideline reporter for ESPN -- was struck in the chin by a foul ball hit by New York Mets player Alex Cora during the 4th inning.

Erin was hustled to the hospital a few innings later, but only suffered a bruised chin.

So the ESPN everywoman and patron saint of blog traffic got her bell rung by an errant foul ball at last night's Mets-Dodgers game. She's fine, just bruised up, and ESPN says she'll resume her duties right away. Our (and by "our," I feel totally comfortable saying I'm speaking for college football fans everywhere of all persuasions) very best wishes for an SEC-speed recovery and better timing on live television.

But EA, honey, stay away from baseball. It's boring, and the Internet would literally collapse in on itself if anything happened to you. (Erin Andrews Erin Andrews Erin Andrews.)

1. A peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular group of persons.
2. A slogan; a catchword.
3. A common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth.

Though the SEC is known for "dressing up" for gameday, shibboleths like houndstooth at Alabama, red pants in Georgia, and jorts in Florida keep it unique and team focused.

I am so rarely a proponent of anything SEC, but this is not a conference cause...it's a [drunken] human cause. The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is the nickname of the annual match-up between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators. This tradition has been around since 1915. Now the President of the University of Florida wants to sober it up. According to RedandBlack.com

"The University of Florida president sent a letter to Jacksonville officials last week to address concerns about the abundant alcohol consumption that occurs during the annual football game between Georgia and Florida...[President] Machen wants a 50 percent reduction in the number of alcohol distribution points and a prohibition of shot sales at The Jacksonville Landing, better enforcement of alcohol sales laws, and more venues students can go..."

Here's a cold one for you, SEC!